THE Ancillary Services Unit (ASU) of Davao City cleared 35 vendors near a mall along J.P. Laurel Avenue on September 12, unit head Paul Bermejo said on Thursday, September 29.
He said during the ISpeak media forum that it is important to clear the vendors to make way for pedestrians using the sidewalk because the vendors are obstructing the passage of people and vehicles.
“Kung naay vendors diha, ang mga pedestrians, na mas daghan compared sa mga vendors, sa kalsada sila muagi. Dili gusto si mayor ana. Ang amoa, our duties and responsibilities, pahawaon gyod sila dira kay mas daghan ang general public na naga-agi kaysa sa 35 vendors na mugamit (If the vendors are present, the pedestrians - who outnumber the vendors - resort to walking on the road. The mayor does not want that. It’s our responsibility to clear them from the area since more pedestrians are using the sidewalk compared to just 35 vendors),” Bermejo said.
He said that the vendors were the ones who demolished their stalls that were stationed along the sidewalk or the edge of the road near Gaisano Mall Davao and Davao Chong Hua High School, adding that there should be no vendors left in the area.
In line with this, Bermejo mentioned the creation of a city government team who would specifically handle operations related to clearing and assisting the evicted vendors.
“Nag sulat sila (vendors) kay mayor na asa na daw sila mubalhin unya gi-route sa akoa (The vendors wrote a letter to the mayor asking for a new place where they can sell and the mayor’s office referred me) (but that’s not my function)... Naa unta team para mag synchronize asa nato sila ibalhin, unsa himoon sa ilaha (If only there was a team who would assist what the vendors could do and where they could go),” he said.
On the other hand, ASU continues its road clearing operations in line with Executive Order No. 05-2017 “EO 5 series of 2017 Re: An order creating and organizing the Interim Ancillary Services Unit of the Office of the City Mayor, defining its functions, and for other purposes.”
Bermejo said they reorganized areas of the city that will be covered in their road clearing operations by adapting the concept of “town squares.”
“Ang bago nato na strategy, gi-adopt nato ang ‘squares’ so by square na (ang areas) (Our new strategy is adopting the ‘town squares’ so the areas are now divided into squares. San Pedro Square, Torres, Quirino, Magallanes, Roxas, Jacinto square, Obrero square. Mao na ang assigned sa atong team na ilang sudlon pati tong mga barangay roads na apil (We will assign those areas to our team and they clear the area, including the barangay roads),” he said.
ASU also established a new road clearing team composed of 15 personnel who will be in charge of clearing all road obstructions in the said area including structures, materials, and vegetation.
“Gina-intensify nato ang road clearing dili lang sa vendors, kung dili pati ang uban pa na mga obstructions (We are intensifying our road clearing operations not just to the vendors, but all the other obstructions),” Bermejo said. ICM